Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

And happy (solemn) feast day of the Blessed Virgin.

I have to admit, to my great shame, that I’ve always thought the statue of her in Our Lady’s Chapel at St. Matt’s was kind of silly. She’s in such an odd, stretched pose. Sort of like she’s bowling. “Our Lady of the Ten Pins,” I’ve called it.

Well, for such a day, after Mass, Dawn and I knelt at the altar in the chapel to say a special Hail Mary to her on her day. And how powerful and beautiful she is from that spot! Clearly I had never properly knelt in that chapel, beneath her there, with her reaching down to us. How better to venerate her and beg for her prayers below her, as she stretches down to receive and help and comfort.

What a special treat of a discovery.